Uncertain future for HK’s democracy movement

HONG KONG — Tens of thousands of Hong Kongers took to the streets yesterday in an annual protest march for full democracy in the city, but the turnout was noticeably smaller than those in previous years.

Thinner crowds at the protest highlight the uncertain direction for the democracy movement after accomplishing its immediate goal last month of blocking the government’s Beijing-backed restricted election plan.

Police lined the route of the protest, held on a public holiday marking the anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover to China in 1997.

Public appetite for more street protests was also diminished after tens of thousands of student-led protesters blocked streets in key districts for 79 days last year to demand direct elections for the southern Chinese city’s Chief Executive. “Maybe some of them feel tired and stressed from all these fights and arguments, so maybe they want to take a rest,” said Mr Drake Leung, a 27-year-old information technology worker. “The package is already vetoed, so there’s no real clear reason to come out.”

However, some protesters known as “localists” fighting for greater autonomy and even independence from China, held up signs calling for a “Hong Kong nation”, while others waved Hong Kong’s old colonial-era flags featuring a British Union Jack.

“I want real universal suffrage,” the crowds chanted, with many holding yellow umbrellas, a symbol of last year’s Umbrella Movement.

“The Umbrella Movement has not come to an end because we have not got genuine universal suffrage,” said Ms Eve Lam, a 53-year-old office assistant who was handing out paper umbrellas to passers-by.

About 48,000 people turned out, said Ms Daisy Chan, convener of protest organiser Civil Human Rights Front, while police said there were 19,650 at the peak. Yesterday’s turnout was the lowest since 2008 and a fraction of the 510,000 that organisers estimated for last year’s event, which also saw more than 500 people arrested after an overnight stand-off. According to local media reports, yesterday’s march began at 5pm and the last of the marchers had petered out after 7pm.

The Beijing-backed plan that was defeated by Hong Kong lawmakers last month required candidates to be vetted by China’s leadership, which activists criticised as “sham democracy” and a betrayal of Communist leaders’ promise to eventually grant the city universal suffrage.

Beijing and Hong Kong officials say future leaders will continue to be picked by a panel of mostly pro-Beijing elites, and they will now focus on economic issues rather than restarting the political reform process.

“Hong Kong people experienced the Umbrella Movement last year and are trying to think of other, more progressive ways to express their views,” said Mr Eddie Chan, a vice-convener of protest organiser Civil Human Rights Front.

Ahead of the rally, a small group protested outside a morning flag-raising ceremony attended by Hong Kong and Beijing officials. They burned the Hong Kong flag and a picture of city’s Beijing-backed leader, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, and called for him to step down.

Beijing took control of the former British colony on July 1, 1997, but allowed it to keep its own financial and legal system and civil liberties unseen on the mainland, such as freedom of speech and protest. The holiday has become a traditional day to protest against government policies and to call for democracy.

On July 1, 2003, more than half a million people took to the streets to protest proposed anti-subversion legislation. The size of the rally startled Beijing and also led to the eventual resignation of then leader Tung Chee-hwa. AGENCIES